Typically, paint baking ovens are constructed from a plurality of modules. Each module usually has top, side and bottom panels. Each of these panels preferably has a pair of spaced apart metal sheets with an insulating material such as rockwool or fiberglass disposed between them. Ordinarily, the side and bottom panels are welded together at ninety degree angles. Usually, the top panels are carried by the side panels. Typically, each module has a longitudinal length of about ten feet and adjacent modules are connected together by expansion joints to produce an oven having the desired length which is often in excess of two hundred feet.
In ovens using a direct open flame to produce heat and hot gases to bake the paint, there is the potential for an explosion by ignition of the volatile organic compounds being vaporized from the wet paint as it bakes. In the event of an explosion, absent a means of relieving the gas pressure within the oven, it would be damaged or destroyed and could cause injury to persons and other property.
In prior direct flame ovens, explosion relief has been provided by unrestraining the top panels so the gas pressure produced by an explosion could force or blow the top panels off the oven. Portions of the top panels were overlapped with the side panels and the interface therebetween was sealed with an oven cement in an attempt to prevent hot gases from blowing out of the oven during normal operating conditions. Due to continual heating and cooling of the oven, this oven cement becomes brittle, cracks, separates from the panels, and falls into the interior of the oven. This produces leaks of noxious gases from the oven and condensation of organic compounds on the exterior of the oven. Furthermore, the cement particles fall onto and cause imperfections in the paint being baked in the oven. Moreover, use of silicone sealants resulted in deleterious reactions with the paint beng baked in the oven.
Prior to this invention, no apparatus has been developed which is effective throughout the life of the oven in providing a releasable seal that is impervious to the passage of particulate matter, noxious gases and volatile organic compounds, while simultaneously providing a means to relieve gas pressure in the event of an explosion.